Unveiling diverse planet formation environments with millimeter imaging

行星是由围绕年轻恒星的尘埃、气体和冰组成的。圆盘观测提供了深入了解行星属性变化的原因，以及最终像太阳系这样的地方可能如何发展。行星形成模型在很大程度上是由附近的孤立盘形成的，这些盘最容易被观察到。为了探索行星形成条件的变化，该计划将使用射电望远镜来分析环境中圆盘的结构和化学性质，这些环境的特征不太详细。研究者将培训一名研究生和一名本科生。作为哥伦比亚大学下一代工程项目的一部分，她还将指导未被充分代表的公立高中学生。该项目将在传统上具有挑战性的条件下对原行星盘进行敏感的观测研究，以更好地了解行星形成的环境如何偏离那些最好的研究系统。来自阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列的分子线和尘埃连续图像将用于比较经历云/包层材料后期落入的盘的化学性质与先前对孤立盘的观测，重新评估明显年轻的嵌入盘的进化分类，展示行星盘相互作用的证据，并在高辐射的恒星形成区域中寻找盘的子结构，以评估行星-盘的相互作用是否以类似于附近的低辐射区域的方式发生。研究人员还将使用宽视场CO映射与绿色银行望远镜的特点的质量和分布的大规模的气体水库提供给磁盘经历late infall.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Planets are made from dust, gas, and ice in disks around young stars. Disk observations offer insight into why planet properties vary, and ultimately how places like the Solar System might develop. Planet formation models have been heavily shaped by the nearby, isolated disks that could be most readily observed. To explore variations in planet formation conditions, the program will use radio telescopes to analyze the structure and chemistry of disks in environments that have been characterized in less detail. The investigator will train a graduate and an undergraduate student. She will also mentor underrepresented public high school students as part of Columbia University's Engineering the Next Generation program.This program will conduct sensitive observational studies of protoplanetary disks under conditions that have traditionally been challenging to characterize in order to provide a better understanding of how the circumstances of planet formation might deviate from those of the best-studied systems. Molecular line and dust continuum images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array will be used to compare the chemical properties of disks undergoing late infall of cloud/envelope material to previous observations of isolated disks, re-evaluate the evolutionary classification of an apparently young, embedded disk exhibiting evidence of planet-disk interactions, and search for disk substructures in a highly irradiated star-forming region to assess whether planet-disk interactions occur in a manner similar to nearby, less-irradiated regions. The investigator will also use widefield CO mapping with the Green Bank Telescope to characterize the mass and distribution of the large-scale gas reservoir available to a disk undergoing late infall.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.